The Los Angeles Kings’ season got off to a
dreadful start and it wasn’t just their early 0-3 record that had the team’s
brass and fans concerned. The club lost their top goaltender Jonathan Quick in
the opening game of the season due to a groin injury and it appears he’ll be on
the shelf for at least three months. even after deciding against surgery. Quick
is a workhorse who has played over 60 games a season five times since earning
the starting role back in 2009/10. In fact he twice appeared in more than 70
contests and also backstopped the Kings to a pair of Stanley Cup championships
during that period.

With Quick on the injured list, Los Angeles
turned to 29-year-old backup Jeff Zatkoff to take over in the crease and also
called up 34-year-old Peter Budaj from their Ontario Reign farm team of the
American Hockey League (AHL). Zatkoff allowed just one goal against when
replacing Quick for two periods in the season opener. However, he then allowed
four goals against in a defeat to the Flyers and was pulled in favour of Budaj after
allowing five goals in two periods in a 6-3 loss to Minnesota. His
goals-against-average for the season stands at 4.38 with a save percentage of
83.9. Budaj then managed to beat Dallas 4-3 in overtime to lift the team’s
record to 1-3.

Bad luck struck again as Zatkoff joined
Quick on the injured list on October 22nd after suffering a groin
injury during the morning skate while preparing to meet the Vancouver Canucks. This
resulted in 24-year-old Jack Campbell also being called up from the Reign as
the new backup. Budaj got the start against Vancouver and played well enough to
win his second straight 4-3 overtime game even after watching his teammates
blow a 3-0 lead. In past years, Los Angeles had some depth in goal with capable
netminders such as Jonathan Bernier, Ben Scrivens, Martin Jones and Jhonas
Enroth filling in admirably for Quick when needed.

However, all four of them are now with
other teams while Zatkoff won the backup job this season with just 35 games of
NHL experience to his name. The injury situation leaves Budaj as the starter by
default and the Kings are hoping he can bring his AHL form with him to the NHL
level. Budaj posted a 93.2 save percentage down on the farm last season along
with a 1.75 goal-against average, but his start against Vancouver was just his fourth
NHL appearance in the past two years. The Kings thought they had a good
goaltending prospect in Patrik Bartosak, but he was let go last season after
being charged with domestic violence. At the moment, it looks like Los Angeles
will have to see how they fare with Budaj and Campbell between the pipes.

If they begin to falter, the franchise may
have to look for some help via a trade until Quick returns. They may also
regret not re-signing last year’s backup Enroth, as he inked a deal with the
Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent. Budaj could be a capable fill-in for Quick
since he has 300 games of NHL experience with a record of 127-107 along with a
90.3 save percentage and 2.76 goals-against-average. However, Campbell has just
one game of NHL experience under his belt with Dallas and he allowed six goals
against in 47 shots during it.

If the Kings decide to trade for a goalie
they need to follow the salary cap rules for long-term injured players and it
doesn’t look like they have much cap space left. The Winnipeg Jets recently
place goaltender Ondrej Pavelec on waivers and sent him to the AHL’s Manitoba
Moose, so he could be an option. Also, with Las Vegas entering the NHL next
season the league will be holding an expansion draft for the newcomers. This
will result in several goaltenders being made available to the Vegas franchise
and some clubs will be trying to negotiate trades before it takes place. If they’re
lucky, the Kings may be able to land a suitable veteran via some creative trade
activity. No matter how you look at it, the Kings best solution will likely
need to be a Quick one.